Bati is Only Addicted to the Goal

This article was written after the arrest of Diego Maradona's manager, Guillermo Coppola, for drug trafficking.

Saturday the 26th, twenty-four hours prior to the game which Fiorentina won 1-0 against Milan (with a goal by Robbiati) in the pressroom of the stadium Artemio Franchi there is a strange atmosphere among the reporters gathered for the weekly press conference: none of them want to ask Gabriel Batistuta about the news from Argentina about his connection (although only as a witness) in the scandal of Guillermo Coppola.

It is an embarrassing situation because the theme that some call the "Batistuta Case" seems to have melted like a snowball in an oven.

His Italian colleagues, in solidarity, avoid speaking about the theme. "We know him well, he and his family, and we would put our hands in the fire for him and his behavior since arriving in Florence. He is an example, and a thousand times he has denounced publicly those who provide drugs to children," they all say.

When we encountered Gabriel inside the stadium after the train trip that brought him to Florence, he was carrying a copy of La Gazzetta dello Sport, whose editorial article on the first page said, "These Stings of Venom." It also said, "We have known Batistuta since he arrived in Italy and he does not deserve to be dirtied in this mud. And he will demonstrate that he had nothing to do with this terrible story."

The only change in his appearance is the removal of the mustache that he had in Venezuela. "I shaved it off, it didn't look good, and it didn't bring me any luck," he joked. But in his blue eyes was a look of worry. Clearly, the news received from Argentina did not sit well with him.

In reality, this interview with El Grafico was scheduled well before the news came in. It had other motivations: His goal against Sparta Prague in the Cup Winners Cup, and his goal against Bologna in the League, and naturally, the future of the national team in the World Cup qualifications.

But the news from Argentina inverted the order of priorities. Bati was calm and reserved while speaking of this.

"Look, I don't want to talk much about this story and I do want to be very precise because I have a clear conscience. The only thing that worries me is to have to respond one hundred times to reporters that come around and want to talk of this. My case is like many other players. I knew Coppola through Diego Maradona. He had easy access to the national team, but I had only the minimum contact with him. I don't know him well and I don't really know why my name has appeared in this story. I learned about the case after the Bologna game because some Italian reporters asked me about it. I don't understand anything."

They speak of parties in which you participated.
"But—Please! I feel very serene and if someone wants to question me about something, I am completely at their disposition. Coppola and Maradona lived many years in the world of football and surely the judges handling this case are going to talk to many people. Well, can we talk about football now?"

Of course, I want to ask you how you feel after scoring goals after a long drought.
"(Laughing) Well, I understand that they want me to score in every game, but to speak of a drought is too much. In five games in Italy I scored two goals, which is not too bad. And if with the national team I did not score against Venezuela, it was because I didn't have any luck. What happened has been exaggerated."

They speak of a Batistuta unable to score—burnt out.
"Thanks to God there's nothing to that. I am feeling well. What I needed was a goal and this arrived against Sparta. And you know how it is, once a goal is scored, everything afterwards comes much easier."

You give the impression that there is more good than bad.
"Yes. I can have a brief period without scoring and they write and comment, but no one asks me. I would give as an answer my form over the last six years."

The fans know this and thank you.
"Well, we finally won something last June, the Italian Cup. I am happy and optimistic beginning a new season, knowing very well that there will be risks."

Fiorentina hasn't begun the season very well.
"We started badly. Of the first three games at home we won only one and this should be a team with great aspirations. Because of this I was very upset to have missed a penalty kick against Lazio."

Does it have anything to do with the fatigue from playing with the national team? Your coach Claudio Ranieri told you to go home to rest and not to train.
"I don't know. It's difficult to say because if I had made the penalty against Lazio, nobody would be talking about me being tired. In reality I am well, this year I had a good pre-season, and played many good games, including the Italian Super Cup against Milan. After that we took some steps backward, but this is something normal when you work with such intensity in the pre-season. I am well, I'm not sick of football like I was last year. I have no problems playing with Fiorentina and also making the trips when I am called for the national team."

For some of your teammates in the national team, the results are very bad.
"Yes, it is very difficult. But I'm not complaining. I always want to be in the national team. What worries me is that, like happened in Venezuela, we don't play in the capital city where you arrive at the airport and there you are. We arrived at San Cristobal, after taking three airplanes. So one spends most of the time getting on and off planes and waiting endlessly."

How do you see the victory against Venezuela?
"There was a lot of pressure, excessive pressure."

How do you live with this pressure, as captain of the national team?
"I see that the national team is criticized with much force. Argentines are not patient; it is an idiosyncrasy of ours. They don't have in mind that the object is to get to France '98 and to do this we have to go through a tremendous program, especially for the coach and for those who play out of the country. Passarella cannot practice with players a sufficient time. It doesn't seem fair. It isn't easy."

You are saying that there is an excessively critical attitude toward Passarella?
"What I am saying is that they attack with reasons that have nothing to do with it. For example, when he says that in Argentina, they play l0 games per month, they answer that in Brazil they play 15. What does that have to do with it? It's Brazil's problem."

Why do they say this? Because they don't like the national team?
"I don't know. I don't really know what's going on there (Argentina). I don't have time to read what all the papers say. Surely, Passarella has his allies and his detractors but this happens with all coaches in the world. We have prejudice because we didn't start well in the first four games, but from here to be left out of the World Cup is a long distance. This attitude does not help us."

The next game is against Chile on December 15, the same day as a game of the Italian League. If Passarella calls you, what will you do?
"It is a shame that the two coincide, but if Passarella calls me, I will go, surely. I was left out against Peru, but because of an ankle injury. Passarella called me on the telephone and told me that I should rest. I was in accord, but if he had said the team needed me, I would have gone."

And you feel that in the national team there is more going right than going wrong?
"It could be, but in the national team it is different. Everything is much more brief. One cannot be playing badly five or six games and pretend that the coach is going to continue using you. What is in my favor is that in the national team up to now I have been useful enough. In 53 games, I have scored 35 goals. It's something that makes me relaxed.

One last question. This year will you win the Golden Ball?
"I'm happy with what I have. I hope that what happened last year doesn't happen again. I wasn't included in the top 50."

Bati laughs. The Italian reporters are impatient to start the weekly press conference. Coach Claudio Ranieri passes by, touches Bati and winks. A memory comes to me from the past week when the coach said how impressed he was because Bati had arrived at Florence after a long trip from Venezuela and instead of going home to rest, he showed up at training although he was so tired he could barely stand. "Gabriel is great because he was not born a star. He became a star by working hard and being very humble. He was not crowned by Mother Nature, but if today he sits on a throne, he got there by himself."

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